Johnson plays no-deal chicken
Prime Minister Boris Johnson inspects poultry during his visit to rally support for his farming plans post-brexit, at Shervington Farm, South Wales. He was warned of “civil unrest” in event of a no-deal Brexit.
Scottish MPS have called for action from the UK government to protect agriculture after Brexit, demanding a new rulebook for subsidies and the scrapping of a salary limit for immigration.
The Scottish Affairs Committee also called on ministers to go back to the drawing board on a no-deal Brexit tariff schedule that farmers say would expose key sectors of the economy to cheaper imports.
The package of measures proposed by the cross-party committee also includes calls to protect produce covered by the EU’S geographic indicators scheme, which recognises Scotch beef and lamb. Scotland’s food and drink industry contributes £3.18 billion to the economy, even though most of Scotland’s farmers and crofters work on land classified as “less favoured” due to challenging conditions.
The Scottish Affairs Committee has called for a new agriculture subsidy regime to allocate funds to the four nations of the UK based on the proportion of least favoured land.
On immigration, the report argues that a pilot scheme to bring seasonal agricultural workers to the UK is insufficient, with room for only 2,500 workers as part of the trial.
The MPS call for that limit to be quadrupled, and for the scrapping of a proposed £30,000 salary requirement for workers to enter the UK to be abandoned.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to “back Britain’s great farmers” while on a visit to Wales yesterday to campaign in tomorrow’s Brecon and Radnorshire by-election,
Mr Johnson promised that Brexit would bring “enormous opportunities” for the countryside once the UK leaves the EU’S Common Agricultural Policy.
But he was challenged during his visit by a local sheep farmer, who told the Prime Minister to stop “playing Russian roulette” with British agriculture by risking a chaotic exit from the EU.
Mr Johnson insisted his government was committed to a deal. “We’re not aiming for a no-deal Brexit, we don’t think that’s where we’ll end up,” he said. “This is very much up to our friends and partners across the channel.”
Labour’s shadow environment and rural affairs secretary Sue Hayman said a nodeal Brexit would be “disastrous for the British food and farming sectors… it has to be stopped”. Pete Wishart, the SNP chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee, said implementing the report’s recommendations would give Scottish farmers “cause for optimism about the future of agriculture post-brexit”.
Mr Wishart said leaving the EU should be used as an opportunity to “rewrite the rules of agricultural funding” so that Scotland’s challenging farming conditions are recognised.
The chairman also called on the government to “do much more to resolve the workforce crisis on Scottish farms”.
“The uncertainty surrounding no-deal tariffs and future of geographical indications must also be resolved so Scotland can be confident its agriculture sector will be protected and enhanced post-brexit,” Mr Wishart said.
A UK government spokesperson said: “For years, British farmers have been given a poor deal by the EU’S Common Agricultural Policy, which is why we want to change things for the better.
“As the Prime Minister has said, once we are out of the EU, we will have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support farmers – and we will make sure that Scotland gets a better deal.
“We will also shortly be publishing the recommendations from an independent review, led by Lord Bew, looking at how future funding can be fairly allocated outside the EU. This will take into account the unique farming environments in certain parts of the UK.”
Row with Dublin looms as PM heads for Northern Ireland
Boris Johnson will travel to Northern Ireland today in a bid to unlock stalled talks on devolved power-sharing, even as the impasse between London and Dublin over Brexit deepens.
On his first visit to the north as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson will pledge to do “everything in my power” to restore the power-sharing executive in Belfast, which has been suspended since January 2017 over differences between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
But his mission is set to be overshadowed by the growing stalemate between Mr Johnson’s administration and the Irish Republic, following a clash with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar over the backstop in their first phone call.
Mr Johnson told the Irish prime minister that he will
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approach Brexit negotiations in “a spirit of friendship” but reiterated that any fresh deal must see the backstop abolished, Downing Street said.
But Mr Varadkar told him that the emergency measure to prevent a hard border on the island was “necessary as a consequence” of UK decisions, the Irish government said.
Yesterday’s call came after the pound fell to a two-year low as Mr Johnson’s new government hardened its tone over the likelihood of a no-deal. Their first discussion, nearly a week since Mr Johnson became PM, also came after allegations that the PM was snubbing the Taoiseach.
Number 10’s account of the call said Mr Johnson warned that the UK will be leaving the European Union by the 31 October deadline “no matter what”.
But Mr Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to upholding the Good Friday Agreement and to “never put” physical checks or infrastructure on the border, according to a spokeswoman.
“The Prime Minister made clear that the government will approach any negotiations which take place with determination and energy, and in a spirit of friendship, and that his clear preference is to leave the EU with a deal, but it must be one that abolishes the backstop,” she added.
Dublin said Mr Varadkar reiterated the EU position that Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement would not be renegotiated.
“On Brexit, the Taoiseach emphasised to the Prime Minister that the backstop was necessary as a consequence of decisions taken in the UK and by the UK government,” a spokesman said.
“Alternative arrangements could replace the backstop in the future, as envisaged in the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration on the future relationship, but thus far satisfactory options have yet to be identified and demonstrated.”
The Taoiseach also invited Mr Johnson to Dublin to “further their respective analyses on Brexit”, Ireland said.
But the PM has so far refused to sit down with EU leaders until they agree to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement.